Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-24
INTERESTING ADMIRALTY CASE
A Question of Savage for the Crew
and Owners of the Mary Odell.
Tho toIiopr,pg daofsion was yestarday


FEB. %. lSs7. Lester " Ravenel proctors
for llbellant. George W. owens proctor
for claimant.
on the seth day of October. 1885, the pilot
boat Mary Odell, W. J. Thompson, master,
vas cruising OF the mouth OF the Savannah
river. About ten miles northeast OF Tybee
light the Mary Odell sighted a schooner drlft-
ing out to sea. The schooner was abandoned.
| though not damaged. There was no one
aboard OF her. The pilot boat hauled up Tor
| her, and having boarded her found that she
! was the Fairfield, OF Wilmington. \. c., with
cargo OF rough race. A portion OF the crew
| OF the Mary Odell was put aboard OF her and
| she was carried into the harbor Of Savannah.
] she was there llbeled for salvage ana with
/ her cargo was sold by the United states Mar
/ snail, bringing altogether the sum OF S9,O5l 81.
| Joseph 4. Roberts, shipping merchant OF
! Savannah. for the owners of the Fairfield,
| fled a claim to the proceeds arising from the
! sale, and the question to be determined is
| what amount Of salvage shall be allowed the
| owners and crew OF tire Mary Odell. Ihere
! is no serious dispute about the facts. 1t ap-
| pears from the testimony of the master OF the
| Fairfield that he lett the savannah river with
crew of negroes and a negro pilot: that his
pilot ran him aground about SIX miles from
Hilton Head. at place which another wit
ness, Sisson, the hight seeper3t Hilton Head,
testified. was the outer edge Of the CASTOR
Bank; that his vessel began To pound
pretty heavily, and thai his crew at
once announced their intention to
to get them to help him put the matches down,
but they refused he had but one boat, of
which they took possession. Fearing 10 be left
alone on his sch oner he went IN the boat
with his crew. He left the schooner ground.
first dropping the anchor. He left when the
sun was about half hour high" lie got ashore
between and O'Clock that night; that he
applied to the keeper OF the lighthouse the
next morning to lend him a glass SO that he
mi ght see his schooner, and also a chart.
TOTS testimony as to his conversation with
the light-keeper is cOrrO6orated by the latter.
The testimony of the persons on board the
pilot boat is TO the effect that when they
boarded the Fairfield she was four miles east
of the CASTOR Bank; she had dragged her an
Choir, or it had been lOosed by the rising of the
tide. The schooner was in seven or eight
ia hons of water. When they boarded her,
about eleven miles from land. her matches
were not down; the waves were dashing water
up on the deck. and being without control
and loaded she was liable to i'll at any lime.
1t will be understood that this was on the At
lantc ocean and "outside," and in q rather
lonely portion of the coast, and the schooner
was drifting out to sea.
think the Fairfield was clearly derelict.
The definition given by Sir Lionel jenkins,
whe n he says that dereIicts are "boats or other
vessels forsaken or found on the seas without
any person in Them" is pronounced by Mr..
Justice Story the true definition in its most
broad and accurate sense. Rowe VS.. The Brig
-; l Mason, 37i.
This ia practically approved by the Supreme
Court Of the United states IN the Laura; "A
Vail, 3l4 when they cite opinion of the
eminent DR.. Lushington, where he says: at
may be perfectly true that the master and
these fifteen men. when they had got on board
the Young Frederick and were sailing away
to Yarmouth intended. if possible. to employ
steamers TO go and rescue the vessel. which
was at no great distance. But is not that the
case every day2 master and crew abandon
vessel for the safety of their lives. He does
not contemplate returning TO use his own eX-
ertions; but the master hardly ever abandons
a vessel on the coast without the intention II
he can obtain assistance, to save his vessel.
mat does not take away from The legal char
acter OF derelict."
The outrageous conduct of the crew of the
Falrheld the night before, and the absolute
| helplessneSs of the master, who was but little
more than boy, afforded hut little hope that
| he could have regained the deck of his vessel
| He could not make her out from the shore the
| next morning without the use of the glass
There was no help at hand, and | think
| 1t Is very doubtful whether In an open boat
| he could have reached the schooner, which,
| by all accounts. was at least eleven miles
| out to sea, and drifting further every mo-
| ment. Nor could he have navIg&ted her
| without assistance. There is no evidence that
he had any means whatever of reaching the
| vessel. save his boat, and after his abandon
| ment by his crew he had no one TO depend on
| but himself. Those who are familiar with
| the desolate and lonely shores upon which the
| hard fortune of the Fairfeld's master had
| cast him. and who understand that the class
| upon which he must OF necessity rely for help,
| while singularly expert in the management
| OF canoe or dug-out on interior waters, have
wholesome indispositiOn to brave the roll
ers OF the Atlantic outside, can. well appre-
| not have been derelict the evening before,
| and as long as the "dnia1ts reeerteadtr was
| reasonable and practicable of performance,
| the next morning IL was clearly dcreict, and
| but for the fortunate lnterpOsition of the
Mary Odell would in all likelihood soon have
foundered.
| be determined. There seems to be on this
| subject no fixed rule nor binding precedent
in admiralty, and the reward in derelict
| cases should generally be governed by the
! DriOclnlea 1 other Asses vi
| in proportion TO danger to property value
! risk of life, skill. labor. and the duration Of
| the service. Parsons ON shipping and Adj
| mI-alty, 293.
Itmay be taken as the prevailing disposition
| OF admiralty courts. or as has been said, as
the general sense of the maritime law, that
| salvage in dereiict should not in
ordinary cases 90 below one-third, and
never, or almost never. above one-haf of the
value saved. There are cases were the
salvage is attended with so little dlfiiculty
I and peril that it would entitle the parties to
little more than QW mum nit for WORK
and labor done. 1t Is true think, however
| that 1T is within the legal exercise of the dis
| erection OF the court. even where the peril
and risk of the salvor has not been very great.
to give something more than mere QUIntum
| ueruit. On this question IAN enlarged
| policy" says Mr.. Justice Story ''Iooking to
| the safety and interest OF the commercial
| world DEGREES a liberal recompense with a
view to stimulate ambition by holding out
| what may be deemed an honorable reward.
| Nor should 1t be forgotten that the same policy
has strong tendency to discourage petty
| plundering and concealment of the property
| saved, and to induce salvors to bring it in
good faith before judicial tribunals and relv
| upon their justice for an ample renumera-
tlon.' Rowe VS.. The Brig, Mason, 3I5.
| The elegant and luminous Lord Stowell,
| whose decisions possess as great weight in
| admiralty as do those OF his brother, Lord
| Eidon, IN equity, has also declared: THE
| prlI clples on which the Courts of Admiralty
| proceed lead to a liberal remuneration in
| salvage cases. for they look not merely TO the
exact quantum of service performed in the
case ltsef, but to the general interests Of the
| navigation and commerce OF the country
which are generally practlced by exertions
OF this nature" Quoted in the "Emulous,"
| lSumner, 10.
In view of all the circumstances
Of this case, considering the loneli-
ness Of the coast, the almost absolute
| certainty that but for the Mary Odell the
| tairitld would have been lost and the COM
| pleteness of the success, in the absence
of allegations in the libel definitely showing
| the names and rank of the different persons
who took part in the service, l award $500 for
salvage, to be distributed as follows: To the
! owners $3.50, iSu-hs master of the pilot boat
S25, to the person rs>elnzss.and of the Fairfield
| and who brought her inIrv78 Savannah river
| $40, the remaining s2l5 10 be divided among
all the officers and crew OF the Mary Odell,
including the master. in proportion to their
| respective wages, except that the pilots on
! board for TINS purpose are to Rnk AS ordinary